Broken Pieces
by owlwayssandforever
Summary: Just a little thing about healing and helping each other mend. Post-Battle of Hogwarts, pre-epilogue. Don't own the characters.


When the war was over and the funerals were held, Harry went back to the Burrow, along with the rest of the Weasleys (and Hermione, after she lifted the memory charm on her parents) and began trying to figure out what it meant to have a life after Voldemort. He had never really known anything else, not since he found out he was a wizard at least, and the idea was more than a little daunting, especially since he had thought his life was going to end up until a few weeks ago. Hermione had already declared that she was going back to Hogwarts to finish her last year, along with Ginny and Luna and a few others who made it through the War. But Harry couldn't bring himself to face that place again, the castle that had for so long been his home felt strange to him now, haunted by too many ghosts (both real and imagined). So he roamed the house, trying to figure out what to do with his life, and Mrs. Weasley never pressured him, reassuring him and Ron time and time again that they could take as long as they needed to collect their thoughts, that they were more than welcome, that she didn't mind their presence at all. If he was honest, he thought that perhaps having them there (meaning more work around the house, more cooking and cleaning and laundry) helped keep her mind off Fred and Lupin and Tonks and the countless others.

He was walking around the garden aimlessly one afternoon, trying to find a way to pass the time (he rarely felt like flying anymore, and playing Exploding Snap or chess with Ron only took his mind off things for so long) when he saw Ginny, sitting a little ways off in the field beyond the garden, facing away from him with her feet dangling in the miniature lake that lay between Burrow and the Lovegoods' house. He started walking over to her, but before he got all the way there, he heard her sniffling and paused, unsure whether or not he should intrude. In the end, he just sat next to her, slowly unlacing his trainers and slipping them off so he could put his feet in the water with her, and gently wrapped his arm around her shoulder. She leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder, and he stayed quiet, waiting for her to speak first if she wanted to. It was the least he could do, just be there for her.

After what seemed like ages, she lifted her head and smiled at him, small and hesitant, so very different from the Ginny he knew so well. She seemed timid, shy, like the girl she had been when she was eleven and a little starstruck (and more than a little infatuated), and Harry couldn't help but give her a warm smile in return.

"I really miss Fred. Sometimes I think it's getting easier but -" she choked a little on her words, and Harry pressed his lips to her forehead.

"I know. I miss him too. I miss them all." He tried to master his emotions, to not let all the thoughts and memories coming swimming back to drown him, but he can feel the tears pricking his eyes, and he figured if there's one person he can let go in front of, it's Ginny, so he did.

Eventually they lie back on the grass together, almost touching but not quite, telling each other all the things they never knew before.

"You know, it was Fred and George who gave me the Marauders' map, back in third year," Harry said, a grin pulling at the corners of his mouth. "They found me during the first Hogsmeade trip and gave it to me, said that my need was greater than theirs. You should take it this year, when you go back." He doesn't think about how different the castle will be after all the repairs and reconstructions.

"If you want me to. You know, for my birthday first year, they smuggled in massive amounts of Honeydukes sweets for me. I always wondered how they managed it." She laughed a little, the noise sounding like music to Harry. "Once…" she paused, taking a deep breath, "once when I was a little kid, I wanted to play quidditch with them, but I was too little to ride my own broom, so Fred put me on his with him, only he was barely big enough himself, and he lost control and we went toppling off. We were only like, three metres off the ground, so we didn't get hurt, and we were laughing so hard." Her eyes lit up as she laughed lightly, picturing it in her mind, but slowly the light faded as the present came rushing back to her, and Harry slid his hand into hers, intertwining their fingers and squeezing gently. "Harry," she says quietly after a minute, "are… do you… er, what's going on? With us I mean. Is there…?"

"What do you want?" he asked in response.

"Right now, I want to know what you're thinking," she demanded, her face set in defiance, the look in her eyes as fierce as the first time she kissed him back in the Gryffindor common room and he sighed.

"I want you, if that's what you want too."

"Good," she replied, and she leaned forward to kiss him softly, grinning when she pulled away, pushing his glasses up his nose from where they had slid down. She curled into him, laying her head on his shoulder and wrapping her arm around him, and they stayed that way for another hour or two, trading stories back and forth, starting with Fred, then Lupin, then anything their minds wandered upon until their voices were hoarse and their stomachs hurt from laughing.

It takes a long time for them, starting with little touches - hands held, fingers brushed against knees, arms wrapped around shoulders, and sometimes a sweet goodnight kiss. When September 1st rolls around and it comes time for Ginny to go back to Hogwarts, Harry already knows that he'll be there to meet her in the Three Broomsticks when the first Hogsmeade weekend comes around (or maybe sooner if Ginny feels like testing out some of those old secret passages). It's a slow build this time, not like in the sixth year when it was all sneaking off to broom cupboards and roaming hands and passionate kisses. This time they're helping to heal each other's battle scars, and it takes time, but they end up stronger, closer, and this time it lasts.


End file.
